Ballyporeen’s Sweeney third Tipp man to win football All-Stars Award
Ballyporeen footballer Conor Sweeney is celebrating having received the ultimate sporting Gaelic football accolade, namely the awarding of an All-Stars Award.
The Premier County captain is just the third Tipperary player to receive the honour, being named at full-forward in the 2020 team over the weekend.
Conor said he was delighted to receive the award.
“I suppose it’s probably the pinnacle of any individual award to get an All-Star, so I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. To get it this year of all years is probably extra special with the year we’ve had,” he told TheAvondhu.
“It’s incredible and probably, like I said, it’s the pinnacle of every individual player’s thoughts and dreams, so I’m delighted to have gotten the nod this morning.”
Conor, 30, who works as a teacher away from the pitch, reached national prominence as Tipperary won their first Munster SFC title since 1935.
The Ballyporeen man scored 1-4 in their championship opener against Clare. He took a stunning point from a free from an extreme angle, which sent them en route to their provincial semi-final against Limerick. That amazing score forced extra-time at the Gaelic Grounds and Tipperary went on to win 1-15 to 2-11.
They went into the Munster final against Cork in November in the hope of causing an upset and they did not disappoint. The Leesiders had taken the huge scalp of Kerry on their way to the final, but on that day in Pairc Uí Chaoimh Conor delivered 0-7 in a stunning 0-17 to 0-14 win for the Premier side.
Tipperary were finally defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo — but Sweeney still managed 1-9 in a frenetic 5-20 to 3-13 encounter at Croke Park. He finished the campaign second in the overall scoring charts with a phenomenal 2-27.
‘HAVE TO KEEP BELIEVING’
Conor paid tribute to his teammates and the backroom staff throughout the year.
“These things don’t happen overnight. You have to work at them and sometimes, you might think they might never happen, but you just have to keep believing and keep working at it and eventually things will turn your way. And it just so happens that they’ve all happened for me this year which is fantastic,” he added.
There’s an eclectic mix to this year’s football All-Stars, strongly dominated by Dublin, with the full team: Raymond Galligan (Cavan), Oisín Mullin (Mayo), Pádraig Faulkner (Cavan), Michael Fitzsimons (Dublin), James McCarthy (Dublin), John Small (Dublin), Eoin Murchan (Dublin), Brian Fenton (Dublin), Thomas Galligan (Cavan), Niall Scully (Dublin), Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin), Con O’Callaghan (Dublin), Cillian O’Connor (Mayo), Conor Sweeney (Tipperary) and Dean Rock (Dublin).